Senate President not required to preside over impeachment court — Drilon

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]Senator Alan Peter Cayetano also said that this will delay the impeachment because of changes in the rules. Will it?

[00:00:10]>> I don't really know what he was referring to, which rule he was referring to.

[00:00:16]But in fact in fact, there is no provision in the constitution or in the constitution that it must be the Senate president who should preside over an an impeachment trial of the vice president. The only instance that the constitution specifies in the specifies the presiding officer is in the impeachment of the president where the secretary where the chief justice is specifically designated by the constitution to be the presiding officer.

[00:00:57]Only I repeat that only in the impeachment trial of the the president.

[00:01:03]The rest, no such rule. Of course, the the Senate rules I think provides that the Senate president is the presiding officer shall preside over the the impeachment trial, but that's a rule which can be changed by the by by by the Senate because that is an internal rule of the Senate and not a substantive law which has to be amended.

[00:01:30]>> But when the Senate returns on July 6th, it will be the start of the impeachment trial and with the vacancy of the Senate presidency, how will it now function?

[00:01:47]>> The Senate will not return because the Senate by >> [cough] >> by the um calendar legislative calendar will adjourn sine die on Friday the the 5th of June. And when come July 6th it will be the the the impeachment court will hold a trial. The Senate will not hold a session.

[00:02:23]>> I see. So, how now without a set with the Senate presidency vacant, who will open the trial? How will it go?

[00:02:34]>> Well, in the same manner that that the question is raised on tomorrow's uh blue ribbon committee, the same issues are are should be resolved in order to allow or to to enable uh the impeachment court to follow. In other words, the the impeachment court uh will be called to order by the uh by the Senate president. In this case, uh the acting Senate president is Win Gatchalian.